1.  The winning party gets to elect the next House speaker.

2.  The winning party will form the government.

3.  ...the leader of the winning party.

4.  And these intraparty divisions mean the winning party could well face internecine warfare usually seen only on the losing side.

5.  The system allows a building of a numerical coalition where the winning party in the election would be merely the first past the post.

6.  The winning party is going to have a razor-thin majority and could easily face going back to the minority in coming elections, he added.

7.  Whatever the outcome, the winning party is likely to hold a narrow majority, making it difficult to pass legislation.

8.  Backers of the losing parties have sometimes taken to trashing local offices of the winning party.

9.  But negotiations to form the government between the winning parties could last through the weekend or longer.